[Brian Mayes]

Please help me identify this species.
I found it just off Pulau Perhentian Kecil on a sandy bottom with occasional soft corals at a depth of 22m.

Anterior view with mantle


Posterior view with mantle partly retracted.

[Myosotis]

It seems to be [i]Prionovolva wilsoniana[/i] (reference : book of Lorenz&Fehse "The Living Ovulidae").
Great dive !

[Brian Mayes]

I don't think it's Prionovolva wilsoniana, because the live animal looks very different.


Image of Prionovolva wilsoniana found on spiky soft coral (Dendronephthya sp.) also in the Perhentians, Malaysia.

[wei]

Hi, it looks like a Diminovula to me. Striking animal that I'm not familiar with though. Nice photos!

[Brian Mayes]

Thanks Wei.

I agree it does look like a Diminovula, especially with the yellow line around the shell. However, the live animal doesn't seem to match any of the Diminovula that I know or can find here http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=diminovula&m=text

[wei]

That was my first impression too, but then again I haven't seen many animal photographs of this genus except those that occur around my area.

[felix]

This is Diminovula whitworthi. The mantle colour is strange though. In any case, it is a difficult group indeed...

[Brian Mayes]

Thanks Felix. As you say the mantle is very different to A32 in your book. Is the yellow line around the shell more an indication of D. aurantiomacula?

[felix]

well, yes, but basically aurantiomacula and whitworthi are very close, either the same, or a complex of several other species. The yellow line is sometimes apparent in the living shell but then fades rapidly in the dead shell